Yourdictionary.com is now our dictionary

As discussed in class today, buying "Webster's New World College Dictionary" (fourth edition) is no longer required because it is available free online at yourdictionary.com. A word of caution, as mentioned in class, I found it wasn't as user-friendly as having the actual book, especially if one is unsure of the spelling or looking up whether a word is hyphenated. The site does provide some advice on spelling searches:

“If you do not know the exact spelling of your word, you can use the ‘wild cards’ in your search. Use ? to replace a single letter in your word or * to replace more than one letter when you search. For example: penguin, peng*n or pen?in.”

I'm going to list the Web address in a new favorite links box on the right along with the online version of The Associated Press Stylebook, which isn't free.

And, remember, if you're planning on a career in editing, I still recommend buying the dead-tree version.